Attitudes towards gambling in Finland differ between age groups, with younger people tending to hold more negative views.
A survey by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) has found that younger people viewed gambling in an increasingly negative light, while older people had a more positive perspective. The younger cohort consisted of people aged 15–44, while the older group included those between 45 and 74.
Overall, the survey found that people in Finland have a mostly negative attitude towards gambling, with around 90 percent of respondents saying that gambling should not be encouraged.
The public health authority's study also revealed that compulsive gambling in the country had increased since 2011, when three percent of respondents reporting compulsive gambling. Last year, some four percent of people in Finland gambled at a level considered moderate- or problematic gamblers. Severe gambling problems are more common among men than women.
Around 6,000 people aged 15–74 living in mainland Finland participated in the study.
At the end of last year, most parliamentary parties in Finland told Yle they would agree to dismantling the country’s gambling monopoly, Veikkaus. There are plans to reform the current gambling monopoly arrangement into a licensing model, a move that would be in line with PM Petteri Orpo's (NCP) government.
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